osc

A command line tool to access the system clipboard from anywhere using the ANSI OSC52 sequence.

System clipboard access includes writing (i.e. copy) and reading (i.e. paste), even while logged into a remote machine via ssh.

Examples

❯ echo asdf | osc copy

# String 'asdf' copied to clipboard

❯ osc paste
asdf

Usage

Reads or writes the system clipboard using the ANSI OSC52 escape sequence.

Usage:
  osc [command]

Available Commands:
  completion  Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
  copy        Copies input to the system clipboard
  help        Help about any command
  paste       Outputs system clipboard contents to stdout
  version     Outputs version information

Flags:
  -d, --device string   select device
  -h, --help         help for osc
  -l, --log string   write logs to file
  -v, --verbose      verbose logging

Use "osc [command] --help" for more information about a command.

Compatibility

OSC52 is overall widely supported, but clipboard read operation is less widely supported than write.

Terminal	Terminal OS	Shell OS	Copy	Paste	Notes
alacritty 0.13.1	macOS	linux	✓	✓	Paste support requires setting terminal.osc52 to CopyPaste or OnlyPaste
alacritty 0.13.1	macOS	macOS	✓	✓	Paste support requires setting terminal.osc52 to CopyPaste or OnlyPaste
alacritty 0.12.1	Windows	linux	✓	✗
kitty 0.29.0	macOS	linux	✓	✓	Prompts for access
kitty 0.29.0	macOS	macOS	✓	✓	Prompts for access
windows terminal v1.17.11461.0	Windows	linux	✓	✗
iterm2	macOS	linux	✓	✓	Paste requires version 3.5.0 (currently beta). Prompts for access.
iterm2	macOS	macOS	✓	✓	Paste requires version 3.5.0 (currently beta). Prompts for access.
hterm	ChromeOS	linux	✓	✗

Terminal Multiplexer support

Using alacritty as the terminal, default configuration options for multiplexer:

Terminal Multiplexer	Copy	Paste	Notes
screen 4.09.00	✓	✓
zellij 0.37.2	✓	✗
tmux 3.2a	✗	✗	May require configuration

Installation

go install -v github.com/theimpostor/osc@latest

This will install the latest version of osc to $GOPATH/bin. To find out where $GOPATH is, run go env GOPATH

TODO

• [copy] check is stdin is readable
• tmux support

For neovim

• set init.lua

vim.cmd([[
let g:clipboard = {
  \   'name': 'osc-copy',
  \   'copy': {
  \      '+': 'osc copy',
  \      '*': 'osc copy',
  \    },
  \   'paste': {
  \      '+': 'osc paste',
  \      '*': 'osc paste',
  \   },
  \   'cache_enabled': 0,
  \ }
]])

Credits

• ojroques/vim-ocsyank - inspiration and introduction to OSC52
• rumpelsepp/oscclip - working python implementation
• gdamore/tcell - terminal handling